The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has recently released its seventh State of India's Environment titled Excreta Matters. In this report we have analysed the water-sewage situation in 71-cities across India, including Bengaluru, to provide decision makers a detailed description of the problems associated with urban India, and to map where cities get their water and where their waste goes. We believe this understanding is critical to find a sustainable and affordable paradigm of urban growth.

Odisha’s capital of Bhubaneshwar lacks any sewage treatment system, and ends up polluting its adjoining rivers, lakes and ground water, says the report of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) called Excreta Matters. This is serious since between 19 and 30 per cent of the city’s population depends on groundwater for domestic use.

Pune has an abundance of water from the Khadakwasla dam but its intra-city distribution is extremely uneven. Some areas get as much as 600 litres per capita per day (lpcd) while others get barely 100. This results in enormous quantities of waste water and sewage and despite having an installed capacity to treat 599 million litres a day (MLD) of sewage, its two main rivers, the Mula and Mutha, remain severely polluted.

CSE's 7th State of India Environment Report, Excreta Matters, was released, debated and discussed in Patna at seminar held at A N College on May 25, 2012. The meet was attended by 90 people, including Prem Kumar, Minister of Urban Development, Government of Bihar, along with senior officials of the Bihar Urban Development Corporation, Bihar Jal Parishad, PHED and State Pollution Control Board. Civil society representatives and concerned citizens too were present.

The 7th State of India's Environment report, Excreta Matters, was released in Thiruvananthapuram on 11th of May 2012 at the 49th annual conference of the Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad at the Government Higher Secondary School, Manakkad. Sunita Narain, director general of the Centre for Science and Environment was invited to inaugurate the conference, and the first copy of the two-volume report was given to former Forest Minister Benoy Viswom.

Last week the Hindustan Times ('Huda picks holes in CSE sewage report' dated 03.05.2012) quoted a HUDA chief engineer in Panchkula as saying that most figures in CSE's report pertaining to Gurgaon were factually incorrect. The only correction issued by the anonymous official was that the 2021 water requirement would be 918.75 million litres per day (MLD), through its two dedicated canals — Gurgaon Water Supply Channel and NCR canal.

CSE's 7th State of India Environment Report, Excreta Matters, was released, debated and discussed in Agra at seminar held at the Karyakaari sabha kaksh (Agra Nagar Nigam) on May 5, 2012. The meet was attended by 50 people, including the Agra District Collector Ajay Chauhan, Member of Parliament from Agra Ram Shankar, the general managers of the Uttar Pradesh Jal Sansthan and UP Jal Nigam, the regional officer of UP Pollution Control Board, as well as civil society representatives and concerned citizens.